Today we are in the extended second phase of the TIGER Initiative (TIGER 2), which aims to build upon the success of the first one. It consists of two components:

• water management and
• research.

The TIGER Capacity Building Facility (TCBF) aims) aims at supporting the research actions of the initiative. As a major component of this new phase, TCBF is devoted to support African scientists to develop scientific skills and technical capacity to make the best use of Earth Observation technology for water resources management in Africa.

There is a large variety of participating institutions, from universities to regional water authorities. They get free access to ESA satellite data, and a large number of training activities are being implemented for them, with the aim of broadening the EO literacy among the information users, i.e. the water practitioners. We also aim at higher academic qualifications, the key players in EO research and education, to enable them to teach new generations of EO specialists and users in Africa. These activities also contribute to building a community that unites the users of earth observation technology for water applications around the continent.

Phase 2 reached its planned completion in June 2012, but the activities were extended for another 18 months. We look at these deadlines as contractual issues, since we do believe that our activity has a much broader horizon, and we shall find the ways to continue working on our tasks beyond the end of 2013.

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